1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to an electric coffeemaker of the drip type wherein water is heated within a housing and pumped to a spreader to discharge into a supported carafe. The present invention is directed to an improved spreader assembly and coffee basket support to reduce condensation and subsequent dripping.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an electric drip coffeemaker, it has been common practice to provide a generally C-shaped molded plastic housing with a lower horizontal leg holding a heated carafe and the other upper horizontal leg forming an overhanging top wall above the carafe and containing a spreader for dripping water through a supported coffee brew basket into the carafe. The vertical leg contains an internal water reservoir and the lower leg a heating chamber which supplies heated water through the water spreader and into the coffee basket. This coffeemaker has widely replaced percolator types and an arrangement of this general type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,740 of common assignment. Various spreader structure has been proposed including one with overflow means to bypass the heated water into the coffee basket when the spreader becomes full as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,956 of common assignment.
Because of the pumping nature of such drip coffeemakers, there is a tendency for steam or vapor to be pumped over into the spreader where it condenses and drips when the brewing is finished and the coffee basket is removed. Various venting is provided to remove accumulated vapors and return them with the latent heat directly to the reservoir as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,603.
The spreader is usually separate structure from the overall coverplate as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,956 supra and it is desired to simplify and use fewer parts to reduce condensation and leaking. The present invention uses the cover over the coffeemaker also to enclose the top of the spreader and vent accumulated vapors directly back toward the reservoir to reduce condensation and it scallops the coffee basket to avoid capillary action in an arrangement that actually reduces the number of parts shown in said U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,956 patent supra while improving the operation.
It is a primary object of the invention to provide an improved water spreader in a coffeemaker which uses parts of the coffeemaker housing to complete the spreader while venting it such as to the reservoir.
Another object is to improve the coffee basket support to reduce capillary action of condensed liquid to further reduce leakage problems.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a water spreader improvement using fewer parts than heretofore by applying the housing cover for multiple functions of covering the housing, covering the spreader, and forming vent passages back and toward the reservoir.